


A Lingering Touch

by nataliaket



Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-07
Updated: 2017-02-07
Packaged: 2018-09-22 15:44:51
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,066
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9614708
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nataliaket/pseuds/nataliaket
Summary: It all started off with a seemingly innocent question, Ignis would think later. He never thought it'd be the morning an important question got answered.





	

**Author's Note:**

> This is the result of me having too many thoughts about IgNoct and how Noctis would react to Ignis' scars. Written in one sitting and not beta'd so please forgive any major OOC moments.
> 
> Also I realized I'm posting this on 2/7 so Happy Birthday Iggy! Sorry your gift is suffering.

In retrospect it was an innocent enough question. 

"Would you mind assisting me in preparing breakfast tomorrow?" He'd watched in slight amusement as Noctis fought with his desire to say no, fully intending to avoid getting up at dawn _again_. Ignis was pretty sure that Noct was seeing through their very transparent attempts to try and get him up early in the mornings, though personally Ignis thought his option was at least better than when Gladio dragged the prince on his pre-dawn training run. Noct had sighed at him and Ignis had had to fight back a laugh as Noct agreed.

The sound of the zipper of the tent opening in stuttered bursts alerted Ignis to the fact that Noct had actually woken up as promised. He leaned back in the camp chair, finishing off the can of Ebony he'd been slowly been nursing as he watched the sun rise and came fully awake, and kept the can raised to hide his smile as he watched Noct slowly make his way over to the chair next to Ignis.

"Ok, I'm up and here as promised. What's on the menu for this morning?" Noctis slumped back in his chair and closed his eyes, looking like he'd fallen asleep again already.

"Well, seeing as how Gladio somehow convinced me to make those Cup Noodles again, I've decided to make us a breakfast of actual food that should carry us through the day at peak energy levels." Ignis stood and tapped Noct's leg with his foot before he moved past him.

"So, eggs and meat again."

"It is indeed eggs and meat again."

Ignis felt a slight bit of familiar but unwelcome warmth curl in his stomach as he moved his focus to the cold camp stove. He began gathering everything needed for the meal while also going through the mental compartmentalization that he'd developed to combat that particular warmth in his stomach whenever it started to rear its ugly head.

The sound of Noct making his way over shook Ignis out of his slight stupor. "Alright specs put me to work."

Chuckling, Ignis guided Noctis to the stove where he'd started to warm a pan to place the meats from the cooler onto to cook. "Place the cuts onto the pan and just keep an eye on them while I get the eggs ready."

"That I think I can actually do."

It took a few minutes but Ignis stopped looking over at Noct every few seconds as he'd dutifully kept an eye on the pan and then watched and appeared to pay attention as Ignis showed him the basic ins and outs of how he prepared one of their usual morning meals. 

It was as Ignis was supervising Noct portioning out the only slightly charred around the edges meat to go with the once again perfectly cooked eggs that he found himself brushing against Noct's side and unconsciously flinching away, his body not used to not having his jacket and gloves to serve as a barrier between the two of them. He tried to cover his movements up by quickly taking a full step away and removing his glasses to clean them with a cloth from his pocket. The look on Noct's face as he replaced his glasses told him that he wasn't fooling either of them.

"Hey, you ok?"

"Quite. Shall we see about getting the other two up? Prompto clings to sleep as hard as you do in the morning sometimes."

Ignis made to turn and make his way towards the silent tent, but he hadn't made it more than a step before he had felt a tug on his wrist and turned back to see Noct looking away from him but keeping a firm grip on Ignis' wrist. He raised his head, looking Ignis straight in the eyes and Ignis found himself caught in an unexpectedly heated gaze coming from his prince. "Noct?"

Before he could react Noct had taken a step forward and closed the small distance between them. "Just..." He reached up and gently pulled Ignis' glasses off his face again. "Let me look at you like this."

Ignis gently reached up and rubbed the bridge of his nose, the lack of glasses always a strange sensation to him. He moved his hand to cover one of Noct's, gently gripping one of the hands holding his frames, speaking before he can stop his mouth. "Do you like what you see?" As soon as the words were out, he felt his face turn as red as the sunrise he was watching a short time ago and looked away in embarassment. This was _not_ how his interactions with his prince were ever supposed to go.

"Yeah." Ignis felt a hand put pressure under his chin and slowly raise his head back up. "I really do." The hand moved to rest itself on his cheek, Noctis looking him right in the eyes like he had before.

"That is...too kind of you, Noct. But I-" A finger placing itself in front of his lips stopped his sentence as well as his train of thought.

"Shut up. Whatever stupid thing you were going to say about duty and your place as my advisor can just stay unsaid because I know, Ignis. I know what my duty is but please just let me have this. Ok?" Noct quirked an eyebrow at him and Ignis nodded, not stopping the small smile spreading under the finger still resting on his lips. "Good." And Ignis was treated to Noct smiling the bright smile he rarely used lately. The heat in his gut curled its way back into existance and for once Ignis let it work its way through his core.

Ignis took a slow step back, gently removing Noct's finger as he did. "I should go wake the others before the food gets cold." He reached for the other hand, still holding his glasses gently off to the side.

Noct jumped, having seemingly forgotten that he was still holding them and that Ignis was missing his glasses. "Oh, right! Here, let, let me do it." Ignis smiled at him, in that moment remembering the awkward boy that still lived in the beautiful, strong man that he'd grown up with.

"If you insist. Your Highness." The bright smile turned into a smug smirk. Noct took a step back towards Ignis again and he closed his eyes and bent his head, feeling his glasses gently placed back onto his face. Opening his eyes he let his hand raise up slowly to gently brush hair out of Noct's eyes, pausing there for a moment and then returning to his own face to readjust his glasses. "A perfect placement, thank you."

He stood for a moment, just trying to commit what he was seeing to memory. The way Noct looked as the light from the sunrise reached the end of its morning color show, fading out to frame his face in a glow that made him look ethereal and Ignis wanted nothing more at the moment than to give Noctis the worship he deserved. He turned, fighting the urge to shake his head and try to rid himself of the thoughts that were trying to force their way to the front of his mind. He made his way to the tent, opening the front and crouching his way into the small space. Finding Gladio he shook the larger man awake and then left him to the task of getting Prompto awake.

\--------

Ignis carried the memory of that morning with him for the rest of the journey. As they set sail for Altissa he found himself wishing that he had made some move, some effort to tell Noctis how he felt, how long he'd felt it. He wanted to tell Noct how he'd found himself dealing with a changing fondness for his prince, _his friend_. He'd realized it one day, on one of the many excursions that Noct had talked him into, the ones he had inevitably taken the fall for once they were caught by someone from the Crownsguard, often Cor, who seemed to know wherever they wandered off to everytime. That time though, as they were escorted back to the Citadel, as he sat in the back of the car with Noct, who had corrected Ignis with "call me Noct, Noctis if you have to," everytime Ignis had tried to call him 'Your Highness' recently, realizing his position wasn't 'Noct's friend' it was 'advisor to the Crown Prince of Lucis'. Noct didn't seem to care about that. Noct, the person he'd known almost his whole life, the person he _loved_. The realization had caught him by surprise and he'd thanked the Six that the back of the car was dark as he spent the remainder of the ride back trying to get over this revelation. 

Ignis had avoided Noct for the rest of the week, trying to get himself in order. It was ridiculous, he'd thought to himself, the entire thought process was ridiculous. If only for the fact that nothing could ever come of it. So, he'd decided that he would put it away, do what he did best, compartmentalize and move on. He would be there for his friend, his Prince, whenever and wherever he was needed. He wouldn't let his inappropriate feelings get in the way of him doing his duty.

It was funny, he'd thought as he watched Noct stand at the railing of the boat as Altissa came into view, that of course it was Noct who had made the first move. Of course it was Noct who would make his feelings known first. He thought he could be content with that memory, with just that one morning he'd had. The way that Noct had looked, framed by the sun in a way that made him even more attractive than Ignis had thought possible. He held onto it and with it he was comfortable in the knowledge that that was all he would have with Noct. That memory and his feelings safely tucked away in a place where they might one day fade as he knew that Noct's would have to as well in time.

\--------

Ignis insisted on sitting in the room with Noctis while they waited for him to wake up. He'd noticed that Gladio and Prompto weren't sure what to do with him while Noctis was unconscious, Noct was their center, the being around which they all orbited, though perhaps they hadn't realized it or more accurately wanted to admit it before the altercation with Leviathan had happened. Regardless, Ignis found himself clinging to what he could control, which was what he could do in his position as advisor, a little hard to do when the person he was supposed to advise showed no signs of waking. He'd woken to darkness and was given the impression that darkness would be the new normal for him. The doctors had done their job and tried to be optomistic, but Ignis was not a stupid man, he was aware of the extent of his injuries, what the most likely outcome of all of that would be in the end. Ignis wasn't stupid, but he was still human and while a part of his mind knew the truth he blocked it out, holding out hope for perhaps some kind of miracle. So, he took advantage of the awkwardness to ask politely but firmly that he be escorted to Noct and stay by his side while he slept. 

The first few days he sat there he was still required to wear the bandages around his head, the injuries to his face and eyes still healing. The doctors were evasive about the extent of the damage beyond that the fact he had, at least for the time being, lost his vision. Questioning Gladio led to no answers either since the other man hadn't seen Ignis after he had gotten him to the medics, the only answer he could get out of Gladio was, "there was a lot of blood Iggy, I'm sorry." Ignis had nodded and made his way back to Noct's room, making sure that he memorized how many steps down each hallway he needed before each turn that would take him to the Prince's room.

The day the doctor removed the bandages for good, he stayed in his own room, a new pair of glasses resting in his hands. They'd told him that the dark lenses would help prevent further damage to his eyes if he had them open, though it was recommended that he keep his eyes closed for the time being. They'd removed the bandages and left the glasses on the side table, leaving Ignis to get himself out of bed and dressed on his own for the first time since the accident. It had taken longer than he'd liked to figure out how his room was laid out, causing him to bang his shins on tables and the edge of the bed. He'd eventually found a pile of clothes laid out on a bench at the foot of the bed. He let his fingers rest on the fabric, feeling the familiar fabric of one of the grey shirts he wore as part of his casual dress. It didn't escape him that perhaps they didn't want to have to put him through trying to put on a button up shirt just yet. He'd scowled, he was blind not an invalid. Sighing, he'd dressed and made himself actually presentable, taking time in the bathroom to try and at least make sure his hair felt right. It would take getting used to that was all.

He'd made his way back to the bed, gloves in one hand and glasses in the other. He'd placed his old glasses on the side table reluctantly and picked up the new dark lensed pair. He could feel the sun on his face from where he sat, the first thing in days that gave him some small comfort. Turning away he opened his eyes, best not to blind himself further with directly staring into the sun. Nothing. Darkness. And worse he felt only one eyelid open. He raised a hand to his left eye and felt around the eyelid, not sure what he was hoping to find. He hadn't examined his face and no one would tell him the extent of the scarring, but he knew there were scars to some extent. No one had told him that whatever attack had blinded him had also fused the skin of his left eyelid shut. Even if he could see he wouldn't be able to open his eye. He moved his head to rest in his hand and flinched away in pain. Gingerly, he felt the left side of his face and the spread of scarred skin that covered a large part of it. Ignis wasn't vain, but he knew he was attractive at least on some level. He'd been in relationships and his partners had been very persuasive on how handsome they found him. They had eventually stopped asking for him once they had figured out that Ignis' life was dedicated to serving the crown over anyone else. But now, now perhaps it was best if he kept the glasses on and ignored the tears that threatened to well up.

After that day Ignis insisted on his usual Crownsguard attire and returned to his post keeping 'watch' over Noctis. It broke him a little more when Noct awoke and noticed Ignis' injuries, Ignis knew that Noctis was aware of the slight waver to his voice as he left the room to get Gladio and Prompto.

\--------

They waited a day after returning from the mine before leaving on the next train out. The station had been thankfully empty and that meant they were able to get their own rooms in the stationary sleeping car. Thankfully after their conversation in the mine, Gladio hadn't fought him when Ignis had insisted on having his own room. Laid out on the bed he left the light off and stared up at the ceiling with the one eye that would open, not that he could see it. He'd changed into sleep clothes, but knew that he wouldn't find sleep for several hours if at all that night. All of his sleep since Leviathan had been wracked with nightmares of flares and fighting, the last thing he'd seen with his own eyes the bright flash of red and then darkness, then nothing as he fell unconscious. The quiet knock on his door pushed him out his thoughts as he tried to find a thread that would lead to some sleep.

"Come in," he called, sighing as he sat up on the bed, feet chilled by the cold floor. Even through the rattle of the door opening, he recognized Noct's footfalls. "Noct? Did you need something? You need to get some rest after today." He turned his head towards where he knew the door was, not sure where Noct was standing.

"Couldn't sleep."

"Well, I can't say that I blame you, it was certainly an exhausting day." He moved his head as he heard Noct move across the room, the bed across from him creaking as Noct sat down.

"Ignis...I..." Ignis held up a hand to stop whatever Noctis was trying to say.

"Whatever apology you feel you have to give to me Noct, please, it is entirely unecessary. Everything that happened I did in my duty to you and-"

"Enough Iggy." Ignis stopped and turned his head more towards the source of Noct's voice, hoping that he was at least looking him somewhat in the face. 'Looking'.

Ignis sighed, rubbing the bridge of his nose out of habit. "Why are you really here Noct? I'm sure Prompto would be better company, I must admit I don't have much to say beyond what has already been said." He cocked his head as he heard the bed across from him creak and then Noct walking towards him. He felt his bed sink as Noct sat down next to him. He realized that he'd removed his glasses, if only to keep them from breaking while he tossed in his sleep, and quickly reached over to grab then from the rickety nightstand. Noctis grabbed his arm mid-reach and slowly pulled him back.

"Don't. Please Ignis, don't put up a barrier in front of me again, I don't need that tonight." Ignis felt Noctis slowly move his body so that he was facing Noct. Noct gently took Ignis' hands and held them against his chest. Ignis wished he could see Noct's face at that moment, he could imagine the pain on his face. The world had placed too heavy a burden on his friend, it was too much too soon for anyone, let alone someone so young. "I need you to be with me, I need to know you're still here. You're the one who's been with me the longest and it's taken me a long time to figure out how important you are to me."

Ignis wanted to flinch away from Noct's touch, from the pain in his words. Hearing the way that Noct swallowed thickly, Ignis could tell that he was trying not to cry. Throwing away any pretext of hiding his pain, he slowly removed his hands from Noct's lap, ignoring the choked gasp that came with the movement. Ignoring it he slowly felt his way up until he could wrap his arms around Noctis and slowly pull him against his chest. "Oh Noct. I made you a promise long ago that I would stay by your side as long as you would have me. I had thought that that was what we had somewhat cleared up today. I am of less use to you now, but as long as I can serve as your ally I shall remain by your side." 

Ignis paused, waiting for a response. He flinched as he felt Noct push him back and then gently place his hands on Ignis' face. "Ah, perhaps you shouldn't-"

"I want to." 

He felt Noctis trace his fingers across the left side of his face, tracing the outline of the scars on his left side, the starburst of burnt skin radiating from the wreckage of his eye. Ignis heard Noctis trying to keep his breathing even as he moved his hands over his face. Ignis moved his hands and held them steady against Noct's sides. He felt Noctis' hands slow and then still on his face. Ignis moved his hands to meet Noct's and gently removed them. "I'm sure it just takes some getting used to, it is nothing to worry too much over. I'm no longer in any physical pain Noct, the only pain that remains is purely my own mental shortcomings." Wrapping himself around Noct, Ignis took a deep breath before gently placing a kiss on the crown of Noctis' head. He heard a small gasp as he ran a hand through Noct's hair, resting his cheek on the top of his head. 

Ignis felt his body still as he felt Noctis move his head up and press his lips to Ignis'.

"I had hoped that I was slightly more opaque about my feelings but apparently not."

"Iggy, please stop talking. I need you to not talk right now."

Ignis smiled and let Noct pull his forehead down against his own, kissing Ignis again. Ignis could feel the smile on Noct's lips as he did so. Noctis deepened the kiss and Ignis tried not to jump as he felt Noct's colder hands push their way under his shirt and try to work it off of his body. 

Ignis gently broke the kiss and twisted a hand into Noctis' hair. "Noct, wait, are you sure now is a good time?"

"Iggy."

Ignis chuckled and pulled Noct back to him. "My apologies, just have to make sure, you know." He felt his way down Noct's back before shoving his hands under Noct's own shirt and taking small pleasure in the goosebumps that rose from where he traced his hands. "Has anyone ever told you that you are wonderfully sensitive." All Ignis got was a growl as Noct pushed him down onto the bed, shirts fully off of both of them and forgotten on the floor. 

"Unfortunately no one has ever been kind enough to let me know, I'm glad you've gotten the chance." Slowly, Noct spread Ignis out beneath him and Ignis felt Noct sit back onto his legs. "I'm glad I finally get to do this though."

Ignis leaned up slightly finding his hands finding their way to his upper body and pulling Noct down to his chest. "I have had what I would say were untoward feelings for you for a long time now. Thoughts that I felt were not acceptable for an advisor to a prince. However, I am pleased beyond words that they were perhaps not completely out of place."

"So you had a crush on me." Noct laughed. Ignis felt his eye tear up at the sound of Noct's laughter, bringing to mind the image of that morning so long ago.

"In so many words, yes. But I didn't want to make you uncomfortable until you showed otherwise."

"Ignis you jumped away from me like a startled deer and then wouldn't look me in the eye, I'm not blind." He felt Noct go rigid above him.

Gently, Ignis found Noctis' face and kissed him deeply. "I take no offense to the statement, it's a figure of speech in this instance. I am not completely over it or fully adjusted, but I am coping. And you, you help with that greatly. Regardless of how Gladio acts you are our center and if you are not the strong center we fall apart I suppose. But, that should not be completely your responsibility and so I guess this is just all of us trying to figure out how to act as an even group that can hold up one another as we fall. As Cid said, we are your brothers Noct and we will stand with you for as long as we can." Noctis loosened up slightly as Ignis talked and let himself fall flush with Ignis' chest.

"I would like to think that you're a little more than my brother right now Iggy. If you can do that."

Ignis felt himself smirk and roughly pull Noct back up to his face. "Trust me when I say I can do that and much much more."

\--------

Ten years was a long time, but also felt like an instant to Ignis. He was probably one of the few people who didn't keep track of the sun as the days got shorter and the day finally came that the sun didn't rise. He could see subtle differences in light and noticed the eventual absence of the sun but the only sun that really mattered anymore was the one that existed in his mind.

He worked hard in the intervening years, relearning how to do things on his own. The day he took down his first hunt on his own he felt pride, but also a hollow space of something missing. The lack of shouts, of everyone taking on whatever target Noctis had headed towards next. It takes a few more times but eventually he moves on from the hollowness, finding his own comfort in the new normal. Ignis found himself staying around Hammerhead or Lesthallum, trying to stay in one place for a decent amount of time, not long enough to truly set down roots but enough to have a pattern in each place. Patterns and routine became his new center. 

He saw Gladio and Prompto often at first, as they did their best to help him adjust and be able to survive on his own in the their new and changing world. As time went on and Ignis found his way as he knew he would they drifted to find their own lives. Without Noct to hold them together they found themselves trying to forge their own paths as they waited for the day that Noctis finally came back to them, whenever that day might be.

He got sturdier glasses after the first few pairs broke quickly in his first few fights. He let his hair grow longer, imaginging Noct teasing him in his mind for getting older.

The call from Talcott fortunately came at a rare time when Galdio and Prompto were in Hammerhead with Ignis. In ten years Ignis had had few occasions were he'd truly wished he could stil see. Once he'd adjusted there wasn't a whole lot he felt he was missing in his daily life without sight. But at that moment, all he wanted in the world was to see Noctis as he was at that moment.Ten years older, did he look like his father in the end?

The hand on his shoulder and the voice of his king.

"You changed your hair." Ignis jumped out of his contemplation as he heard Noct sit next to him at the fire.

"Yes well, ten years can bring change in many ways. I know already that you've changed in magnificent ways." The lack of response from Noct had Ignis reaching out to the chair to see if Noct had left while he was talking. His hand hit Noctis' side.

"Don't worry Iggy I'm still here."

"Well, you can't blame a man for wondering when he can't look." He felt Noct removing his glove from the hand that had bumped into his side and bringing it up to his face. _Oh._

Gently taking his hand back he removed his other glove and reached back towards Noct's face. Noct's hands took his and placed them on either side of his face. Turning in his seat as this happened, Ignis settled and slowly moved his hands across Noct's face. "I see you are following the family tradition of facial hair, though not for lack of trying years ago." Noctis snorted. "You've become strong Noct. I think your father would be proud of the man you've become. No, I know he would. I am proud of the man you've become." Ignis removed his hands from Noctis' face and pulled his gloves back on, Noctis returning the one he'd removed. He stopped when he felt his glasses being removed from his face.

"I'm proud of you too, Ignis. You've become, you're amazing, everything you've done." A hand on the side of his face, a familiar touch that he hadn't realized he had missed so much. 

"I have merely just tried to live a life that I would be proud to tell you of whenever you returned to us. I'm glad that you think that I've done that, it means probably more than you can know."

The sound of the camp chair next to him moving, footsteps, Noct leaning over him and tipping his chin up so his lips could meet Noct's. "One more time, Ignis?"

"It would be my honor, Your Majesty." A smile behind lips and a gasp as ten years of waiting came to an end.

\--------

The daemons finally fell around them and Ignis stood in the circle, letting his daggers clatter to the ground in relief. He heard Prompto yell and he reached down quickly for his weapons in case more enemies had appeared. He realized that Prompto's shouts were of joy and not a signal of the appearance of more enemies. Gladio's voice joined Prompto's and he tuned his hearing to search for any signs of something approaching. The source of their joy turned out to not be something he noticed with his hearing.

_The sun._

Ignis felt the warmth of the rising sun and as the heat hit his face a sensation of touch alongside the left side of his face traced its way along his temple before the gentle sensation of a kiss lingered on his forehead for an instant. He cried and as the feeling faded he remembered a boy framed by the sunrise all those years ago, a boy who would become a man who was his but never really his. A man who gave everything to the ones he loved and to the world so that it would see the touch of dawn once more.


End file.
